Labour MPs are obviously still smarting at Mervyn King's support for the government's austerity plan. At Tuesday's Treasury select committee the anger was palpable. The Bank of England governor, to his obvious discomfort, was peppered with accusations that he was, and still is, George Osborne's poodle.

This question was supposed to go away after King's earlier denials of any political meddling. He believes he always studiously avoided saying what kind of plan he favoured. And anyway, Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve and Jean-Claude Trichet at the European Central Bank are far more forthright in demanding fiscal belt-tightening.

But Labour are right to argue he over-stepped the mark. While King avoided debating the mix of tax and spending cuts a government might adopt, he allowed some electorally explosive commentary into the public arena. Even monetary policy committee member Adam Posen said so last year.

Posen sparked a row when he revealed three or four MPC members believed the language in Threadneedle Street's central forecasting document of last May "[was] prejudicing the impartiality of the Bank" and "could be seen as excessively political in the context of the election".

The report claimed Alistair Darling's last Labour budget was too timid. It said: "A more detailed and demanding path for fiscal consolidation than set out in the March 2010 budget may ... be needed to avoid unnecessary increases in the cost of issuing public debt."

When it was published Tories welcomed the political cover needed to embark on the most severe austerity programme since the 1970s.

Weeks later Nick Clegg and Vince Cable were sent to the Bank's HQ to have that sentence spelled out to them.

Yet Labour MPs pulled their punches when King hit back with denials. They had the motive and ammunition to press for a knockout, but the fight wasn't there.

For all the bluster and finger-pointing, it appeared King's charm won the day.

He turned the debate into one that sympathised with the poor and needy, the blameless who suffered most in the financial crisis. King expressed surprise that these workers had eschewed open displays of anger while bankers kept their booty. Their anger was justified, he said.

More than this, King is keeping interest rates low and preventing Osborne from tipping the economy back into recession. All this makes him a hero in Labour circles, and he knows it.

Tories, some of whom would like higher interest on people's savings, are split on the benefits of having Mervyn at the Bank. But with austerity secured, he's a hero to them too.